Shelby Lee Adams captures a side of Appalachia

6:17 PM,
Feb. 27, 2012

Shelby Lee Adams (right) with James Napier, in Leatherwood, KY, 2008

Written by

Matt Frassica

The faces in Shelby Lee Adams' black-and-white portraits stare out at you, still and solemn as if out of photography's distant past. That some of them wear overalls and appear in rural settings that haven't changed much in a hundred years only adds to their apparent agelessness.

But Adams took most of the photos in his most recent book, "Salt & Truth," over the last seven years.

An exhibit of Adams' photographs will open at the Paul Paletti Gallery (713 E. Market St.) on Friday and run until May 13. Adams will give a talk and sign copies of the book at Carmichael's Bookstore at 4 p.m. Saturday. ...